The Legend of Sasuke Sarutobi
by TrueEros4376
Summary: This is the legend of one Sasuke Uchiha, and how he escaped to distant lands...and became a hero and servent to the gods of old.
1. The Beginning

The Legend of Sasuke Sarutobi

In the lands far north of the elemental nations, there were mountains and beyond that lands unknown. There were legends about these mountains, legends of demons loosed upon the earth where they ran rampant as the free wind. At a Gokage summit years before, at the time of the first Hokage nearly 100 years ago, it was decided that all nations would forbid passage into these mountains to preserve the peace of the world. At that time, the 9 tailed beasts that were roaming the land had been captured by the power of the First Hokage and the Uchiha clan.

But the demons in the mountains and the lands beyond knew that at one time they had all been the one ten tailed beast, the Juubi. Seeing the power of these shinobi in action, they too decided amongst themselves that it would be foolish to ever cross into these lands where men could seal away demons almost as easily as pouring water into a jar. So they remained in the mountains and the lands and seas beyond that, never going into the elemental nations where human life thrived and grew. Soon a hundred years after that decree people slowly began to forget about the demons…but the laws remained the same; that they should never go to the mountains lest they wish to lose their lives. This was how the world lived.

That was until one ninja, one of the Sannin, Orochimaru, learned of the truth behind the past laws and his natural curiosity and lust for power willed him to want to learn more. This was around the time that he had gained a new pupil, misguided due to his curse mark implanted on his shoulder. Over the next two years, Orochimaru forced all his knowledge and skill into the last Uchiha. Another year passed from then and he had killed Orochimaru and his older brother Itachi, and finally learned the truth of his life from Madara Uchiha, that Itachi was ordered to kill his family by the higher ups of the hidden leaf village, but just couldn't bring himself to kill his little brother who was innocent and blameless in the wake of the possible Uchiha coup'de'tat.

Hatred began to consume the young ninja as he and his group went to disturb the Gokage Summit, fighting and nearly beating the Raikage, then taking off to track down and finally kill one of the hidden leaf elders, Danzo along with his teammate, Karin, in the process. Finally some time later, it happened, the big moment where he and Naruto faced off in a death match to end it all. At first, Sasuke believed it would be yet another win for him. But then his feelings changed when Naruto pulled out all the stops, using his sage mode and fox mode together nearly beat him.

Finally after having some sense beat into him, and using his Mangykou Sharingan to stop Naruto's fox powers from being used, he mind seemed to clear a bit, and knew that if he didn't run right now, Naruto would beat him. So using a cheap trick to escape while Naruto was speaking of how he wanted to bring him back to the Leaf Village, he ran, wanting to leave his world behind. With the defeat of Madara close at hand, he ran north through Earth Country, until he finally came to the mountains which Orochimaru spoke of so often. With Naruto pledging that someday he would bring Sasuke back to Konoha, this…is where the story begins.

* * *

Chapter 1

It was cold to say the least, high up in the mountains, the last Uchiha climbed upward. His clothes were a wreck, which was of course irrelevant as he had been in a massive battle only a few days ago. But it was also Sasuke's mind that was in shreds at the moment. How, how was it that Naruto had gotten so much stronger than him? Wasn't he always supposed to be one step behind him? And Naruto had beaten such sense into him. He could barely understand why his mind had become so full of hatred. Hadn't his brother wanted him to remain blameless for the Uchiha massacre?

But he hadn't realized it when Madara had twisted his mind into trying to take revenge for the Uchiha on the elders who ordered the attack be carried out, when it was Madara who had killed them. Knowing his full plans now, he ran north, bringing him to where he currently lay, on the side of this snow covered mountain, trying to move forward through the cold. These mountains were said by the now dead snake Sannin to be infested with demons of all kinds. So far he hadn't seen one, but right now when he was so weak he didn't want to face off with one to see how strong he was compared to them. The mountain range itself was only a few mountains wide, but stretched the entire length of the elemental nations. And with their high altitudes, the cold easily surpassed below 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

As his luck would have it, he encountered one of the demons, just when he was at his lowest point in his life. Despite his keen ninja senses, he barely sensed the sound of flapping wings till it was right on top of him. Giant black crow's wings flapped as it passed the mountain. Sasuke turned his head from the mountain face to see the large creature fly by. It had no body, just a large face for a body with no head. It had a pipe stuck in its mouth with a small flame coming out the end. What stuck out the most about it was not only the two wings on either side of its face, but also that it had a ridiculously long nose.

Ever since he had been a boy he had seen pictures and statues of this being, but never in his life did he ever think he would see a live tengu. Suddenly it stopped and sniffed the air, then without warning, it turned to see Sasuke on the mountain face, and with a roar it flew at him with killer intent. Sasuke had been greatly weakened from his battle with Naruto, thus the reason he actually had to climb up the mountain instead of just using chakra to walk up it. So it was with great effort that he had to turn around to face this devil in the mountains. But that never broke his resolve. In one swift movement, his hand swiped upward, a sword of electric chakra forming from his hand and extending out, then in the same movement, swung his arm down just as the creature passed in range of it.

A number of things happened at the same time. First and foremost was the tengu that had been flying at him was instantly carved in half, neatly and with deadly accuracy, the second thing that happened was that a fractured rib, courtesy of Naruto, moved under his skin, causing him severe pain, making him wince with pain and grabbing it with free hand. Then lastly, he fell from the mountainside as the two halves of now dead tengu collided with the mountain face. Without Orochimaru's curse mark and no surface to perform his hawk summoning jutsu, he unfortunately continued to fall down into the dark depths of the valley below.

They say luck falls upon those who least deserves to have it, but only in the worst situations does it fall on them.

Sasuke fell and fell, waiting for the end to come. He thought that once again he would be able to feel his brothers hugs again like when he was little. But then he blacked out as he hit the surface of the mountain river at full force, saving him from the Shinigami's grasp. But only just, as the cold river carried his rapidly, and it was only through luck that he wasn't smashed against any rocks. It took him almost a day to travel down the river. Finally he drifted to a calmer part of the river and at last landed on a sandy beach, just before it went out into a large ocean. There he lay, drifting in and out of consciousness, dreaming strange dreams. Finally just before he woke, he saw a woman dressed in nothing but white, a white kimono with black designs, and her pale face showed red markings on it and her snow white hair. She was gorgeous, even by the infamous Uchiha's standards, which were pretty high even though long ago he had practically killed off most of his emotions. She soon spoke to him.

"Oh young shinobi of the newer world, your heart has been tainted…I know that deep down you seek peace that all seek…go….journey across the seas…redeem and repent yourself before the gods…and you will live as your loved brother wished you to…go….go," the voice of the angelic woman began to fade as she did as well from her vision as he began to stir.

Suddenly as his vision cleared he saw a strange thing…a small boat floating along the coast of what appeared to be a sea….in that boat was the strangest looking being he had ever seen, it looked like a woman...but her head was huge and misshapen, appearing as wriggly as the waves.

She was rowing along until she quickly landed on the beach, got out of her boat and went behind some rocks, doing heaven knows what. Sasuke was hardly one to ever listen to dreams, as his cold logic simply told him it was his brain processing information from the day before, and the images showed in his head simply mixed memories as they were processed. But there was something different about this one….the woman he saw…she was beautiful beyond all recognition. Not even a combination of any girl he's ever met or seen in his life could equal this woman's beauty. He wasn't sure what to make of it. Then he remembered why he was here in the first place.

"Well, it's not like I'm going back for anything. Might as well just roll with what my head tells me to do."

Quickly the last Uchiha got up as much as his water-logged legs could allow, and silently moved towards the boat, anchored down by a heavy stone. The demon had been in the cave for some time now, so he wasn't sure how much longer it would take for her..it, he wasn't really sure, to come back out.

So lifting the stone quickly he put it into the boat and began to shove off, jumping in as he set out to sea with nothing but a pair of oars, the clothes on his back, his sword, and provisions that were supposed to run out today. Suddenly a loud wailing scream was heard as the demon lady spied him setting out with her boat. Her voice sounded like that of someone drowning, a females for sure, but it was also much more higher pitched, and far more menacing.

"MYYYYY BOATTTT!!! GIVE ME BACK MY BOAT!!!!! I SHALL KILL YOU AND DRAG YOU DOWN TO THE DEPTHS WITH A QUICK DEATH, BUT GIVE BACK MY BOAAATTTT!!!!!"

Sasuke almost wanted to laugh at the now pitiful excuse for a creature, but his stoic face said otherwise. "Stupid demon…" he said as he turned around in his boat to face forward, ignoring her screams.

Finally he was off on a journey to nowhere in particular, or more appropriately, a journey to escape an old world. As he kept moving on, he turned his head to look back at the mountains he had miraculously survived coming through, the ones that no one had tried to cross in ages or had ever succeeded. He was the first, and felt a small sense of pride at that. But killed it as soon as he thought about why he had to it in the first place. Before he turned his head to face forward, he spit in the water towards it.

"Good riddance, stupid world."

Finally he faced forward, just as a thick sea fog began to roll in toward him.

"Oh well, guess I'm doomed to face trials all my life...heh…maybe I'll die out here and finally go to be with my nii-san…and my kaa-san, and otou-san…" he said mumbling to himself as he was soon surrounded on all sides by the fog.

Soon he began to feel the ocean currents pulling on his little craft and seeing as he had no idea where he was headed anyway, he pulled his oars in, and figured he'd get some well needed rest. So, laying down in the boats bed, he slowly but assuredly fell asleep.

* * *

How's that for a preface/first chapter? :} this one has been buzzing in my head for a while, and the chapters from here on out will be much longer. Btw I've taken a little break on my other stories as I have Real Life things to attend to, like getting a job and what not. But this one is like…BAM, needs to be written…the other ones like my wolf story and my school warfare one have too many crossovers to think about so it got difficult for me think what was going to happen next. This one is simple and straightforward two crossovers, so I'm really focusing on it as it's much easier to reference them. Oh and definitely expect more fluff for A Night at Naruto's. ;D


	2. My Name?

Chapter 2

Let me state that this next statement goes for the ENTIRE STORY….I'm not gonna keep repeating it every time: I DO not own neither Naruto nor the game Okami, Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, and Okami is the property of Clover Studios, the only thing I own is the creative rights to the storyline itself and even then it's borrowing a lot from Okami and Japanese folktales and epics.

* * *

The young shinobi had drifted what seemed like forever, but being asleep, he had no idea that he actually hadn't traveled very far at all, thanks to the mist that hung over him now. Slowly he drifted and slept…peacefully unaware that his boat had finally stopped on a sandy shore. However once he had exited the mists, the sky went from clear to suddenly very dark, the skies wept and the seas churned as if a dark force willed them too. It was as if a curse upon the land had finally reached a small sanctuary of peace. He had landed on a small island, just about 50 yards away from the shoreline of the mainland, where right on that shoreline was a small village that seemed to be rather panicked at the time. Villagers were scurrying around trying to secure things to the ground, and some were up at the shrine of a great Konohana tree, praying to the tree spirit that guarded the land to bring them a savior to combat the dark force. Looking closely at the foot of the shrine, one could see a small hopping, glowing green being, barely an inch tall, drawing pictures and handing them out to everyone.

"It's ok everyone! Just keep praying to Amaterasu and maybe she'll send us some divine intervention or something like that!" He said as he kept handing out pictures of a white wolf that had a large, fiery disc hovering above her back.

"She better anyway or I'm gonna go up there and knock some sense into that furball!" he muttered to himself as he kept trying to keep people's hopes up.

That was Issun's job as a Celestial Envoy, to keep up the faith in the gods so that they could remain in power and thus help keep evil at bay.

As the village prayed at the shrine at the base of the tree, deep inside the tree, inside the shrine dedicated to Nagi, the hero who had saved the village almost 100 years ago, something was happening. The Cave of Nagi resided in a spiritual place, a world separate from our own, but was as close to the Celestial Plane as the world could get. Outside the tree, but still in the realm of the spirit, the tree sprite that everyone had been praying to appeared, floating above the entrance, suddenly appearing very excited.

"Can it be?! Could it possibly be her?!"

Issun, who like most Poncles, could see gods and spirits, and had suddenly overheard Sakuya's voice over all the quietly praying people.

"Eh? Sakuya? What's all the racket about gorgeous? You lose something between them lovely mounds of yours?"

It was well known to most by now that Issun, despite being a Celestial Envoy, was a big pervert, and loved to get the chance to get close to women, no matter what their size was compared to his. If Sasuke had been awake and been there, he could have easily compared him to a certain white-haired Sannin he used to know about.

Sakuya, blushed and frowned at the little inch high man,

"No little bug, I…"

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU STOP CALLING ME THAT!!!"

Issun interrupted as he started hopping angrily, his green aura turning red at the mention of him being a bug. Sakuya ignored him and continued speaking excitedly. "I think…I can feel her presence! The great Mother Amaterasu is inside the Cave of Nagi!" That silenced Issun instantly. "W-what?! "She's here?!! SERIOUSLY???!!!!!!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Deep inside the Shrine, at the terrace in front of Nagi's Statue, a bright light lit up the starry sky, a light that glowed with ethereal beauty, as if shining down from the Celestial Plain itself. Almost as soon as it had come it began to slowly ebb away…leaving the form of a pristine figure, coated in white. Giving her own kind of smile, she set a step forward, onto her next great adventure.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Back outside, Issun was hopping like mad with excitement all over the place, the people stirring from their prayers with his cries of praise.

"WOOHOO!! SHE'S BACK! SHE'S COMING BACK!!"

By now, after all this time after the last great adventure of Amaterasu, the people had begun praying and could see the gods and spirits once again, so it was with surprise that they looked up to see Sakuya, looking eagerly at the caves entrance. Suddenly she gasped as she very nearly fainted, then she put a hand over her chest.

"Oh Issun! I felt her the second she entered this spirit world! I can feel her approaching us this very second!"

She was excited, as was everyone else at the return of their savior, who was answering their prayers by returning to rid the world of this encroaching darkness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

She was running at full speed across the now hilly landscape, stretching her limbs after not having been in this place so long. Yipping excitedly, the Solar Flare burning brightly with its multi colored flames, the wind blowing through her white and red streaked fur. Truly this was almost as much fun as the day she returned back to her home on the Celestial Plain, her kingdom in the clouds. Spotting the last spirit gate she had to pass through to return to earth, she gave a wolfish grin and picked up speed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Issun and everyone had turned towards the gate with excitement, the darkness practically forgotten. Finally the moment came, when from the shining gate to the Cave of Nagi, out ran the white wolf, a loud, long howl coming from her muzzle, signaling to this world that she had returned once again. The effects were felt almost instantly. A wave of energy swept out across the land. As everyone across Nippon knew of her again, everyone had been praying to her as well, giving her back her former godly powers. The white strands of spiritual energy came off of her like a waterfall.

Everyone could feel her power and trembled to it. Almost as fast as she had come out, the sun came out as well, banishing away the darkness that had dared encroach over the village, and most of the land far outside it as well. Pink sakura blossoms began falling from the great Konohana tree, replacing the rain that had been falling earlier. A gentle breeze began blowing and caressing the landscape, welcoming back the Mother Goddess. Bursting with happiness, Issun bounded straight at Amaterasu.

"Furball!!!!!!"

He said as he tackled her nose, hugging it.

"Gosh I missed you!"

As the rest of the village watched with smiles she pranced around playfully, as if she wanted to embrace him as well. Grinning she tossed him up into the air, caught him in her mouth, then promptly spat him back out onto the ground with her tail wagging back and forth excitedly.

"UGGHHHH Gross! I hate wolf slobber!"

Frowning he stared up at her, her nose inches away from his.

"I thought you'd become a bit more ladylike up there on the Celestial Plain, but you never change do you boss?" He said as he sighed as he stood up, shaking his arms of the drool that now coated his body.

"Guess I'll dry off later…"

And with that last statement, the rest of the village approached Amaterasu with praise, and happiness at her return, petting her with the love they now all had for her. She gave a whine of pleasure as she got some TLC from all the people. She sniffed the air, inhaling the people's scents. She noticed some old ones mixed in with the new ones, old faces along with some new ones, and noticed some that were missing. Right away she saw Susano'o along with Kushi, but what she hadn't expected was the 3 year old at her chest with giggles.

Happily she licked the cute little boy's cheek. This was their child, she could tell by the way he smelled like Kushi's sake, and Susano'o's sweat, from his training no doubt. She also saw Mushi's mother, who seemed like she hadn't changed much except for some now discernable wrinkles on her face. There was also the man from Shinshu field with no name, the hunter from Agata Forest, and finally Taka the Flaming Pyrotechnist all taking turns in petting her and giving her praise. Even Ida of the Daigong Express was there petting his speedy rival.

They all seemed a bit older, but not much had changed between them except that maybe some of them were wearing different things. Giving a wolfish smile to everyone she wagged her tail and she smelt some more. She noticed that the smells of Mr. Orange were nowhere to be smelt at all. She smelt Mrs. Orange off in the distance. But then she smelt someone else entirely.

Issun was still hopping on her nose.

"Heya Ammy! I guess you remember everybody huh? Well except maybe for the kid here. That's Minato, Kushi and Susano'o's kid. Heh, hard to believe those two ever got married huh, it only took them 14 years to get it done!"

He said as Kushi and Susano'o frowned down at him and were about to interject when suddenly Ammy leaped up over the small crowd onto a rock near the shrine gate. Sniffing the air she looked around till she looked down at the small island below.

"Ammy what tha heck is with you?! Huh?"

He had suddenly stopped speaking as he looked closer to where Ammy's nose was pointing.

"What on earth? Hey everyone! There's a boat down there!"

The villagers moved over towards the cliff edge some gasping. The no named artist of Shinshu Fields spoke up,

"Hey man…that's like crazy and stuff, but no one's sailed across that lake in ages because of the demons that supposedly live on the other side or something. Crazy mojo and stuff dude."

He spoke in a hazy sort of voice. Ammy wasted no further time, once again leaping over the small crowd of onlookers and running down the mountain path at full speed, yipping into the wind as it blew through her fur wildly.

"GEEEZZZ AMMYYY!! SLOW DOWN!!!!"

She only did as Issun asked when she reached the end of the path and the massive lake's shore line.

"Whew…at least you still don't like water, heh," he said with sweat drops coming off his tiny brow.

Ammy wasted no time putting her powers to use.

If anyone had been watching closely, the only noticeable thing they would have seen happening next is her long, beautiful white tail twitch a bit. But to the goddess, in that space of time that it twitched, the world had frozen in time, and become like an artist's easel to her. Calmly and taking all the time she felt like, she moved her tail around and drew a large circle on the surface of the lake. Then time restarted again. Almost instantly as soon as he tail had twitched, her upgraded powers were shown as a massive lily pad grew out of the water instantly.

"H-h-h-holy cow!!!! A-ammy?! When did you get so darn powerful?! Even your simply lily pad technique has gotten better!"

Not waiting to explain to the Poncle, she hopped out onto it, and easily crossed the space between the shore line and the Island.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke had been asleep in the boat a long time, his old Akatsuki cloak serving as a blanket of sorts from the elements. He was still wearing his old Hidden Sound clothes as well, not bothering to have changed out of them when he stopped working for Orochimaru. As he began to stir, he noticed a few things…first thing he noticed, it was daylight out when it had clearly been night a few minutes ago. He shrugged it off as he had been asleep and time seemed to pass quicker when you were asleep. The second thing he noticed however, were that there were sakura blossoms fluttering through the winds, landing on and around with a gentle ease that brought about a calming effect within him which surprised him as well cause he hardly ever felt calm and at peace these days.

The next thing he noticed, which happened rather suddenly at the last minute, a small, wet, black nose started sniffing at his face in his line of vision. Blinking at this he suddenly sat up and looked to his side, what he saw was nothing but a pure white wolf, carefully sniffing at him, and then slowly licking his face some. Annoyed by the sudden display of affection from a random, yet uniquely colored animal, he made to shoo the wolf away, when he had his fourth big surprise of the day happen to him. It spoke, which coming from a land of villages where ninja animals could talk, wasn't that surprising to him, but still at the moment it caught him off guard.

"Hey kid! What're you doing out here on this little island, let alone this whole lake?"

He moved back a little, creeped out by the fact that the wolf hadn't moved its lips at all.

"What the..? How're you talking without moving your lips?"

Sasuke said genuinely surprised but took the moment to observe his surroundings. His boat was facing a large rock, and like the "wolf" said, it was on an island with some small trees and green grass. The only other feature he noticed was the cliffs on either side of him, and one had a rather large tree with pink blossoms falling off of it into the wind.

The wolf tilted its head to the side and then suddenly in Sasuke's ears came the voice again.

"Up here! Not the wolf, you moron! On the wolf's head!"

Sasuke narrowed his onyx colored eyes and concentrated on its head. There, a small, bouncing, green ball of light was perched between the wolf's ears.

"So you gonna answer me or what?"

Sasuke was dumbfounded for a moment, mostly because something less than inch tall had just insulted him, a feat lesser men have died for.

"Uh… Yeah… I'm fine." He said slowly. "What are you? A fairy?"

The green ball of light suddenly turned red, and started hopping a lot faster.

"I'M NOT A FAIRY DANG IT!!! I am Issun, the Magnificent Traveling Artist and Celestial Envoy! And this here is Amaterasu, the mother goddess of Nippon!" the little Poncle said as he stood proudly perched between her ears.

Sasuke just stared. He must be dead. It had just him that he must have died out there on the sea, and this was heaven's way of punishing him for all the stupid things he had done in his life.

"Uhhh….sure." He got up slowly, feeling his strength had returned to him. Then he felt the pain in his side from having slept in the wooden boat in an uncomfortable position for such a long time. That was his first wake-up call that he wasn't dead.

"Who are you anyway? You look kinda funny looking."

The green speck said as it looked up at him, and the white wolf began to step forward to him, when suddenly it stopped and sniffed the boat. Then suddenly the wolf growled lowly as he it turned its head to the shinobi and began looking like it was going to attack him.

"What is it Ammy?! What's gotten into you??? You shouldn't just suddenly…….Huh??"

The Poncle had stopped mid sentence, and seemed to be listening and looking at the boat.

"Hey…this boat smells like a demon has been in it."

Sasuke tensed but barely showed it, remembering where he got the boat from.

"Just because it smells like a demon doesn't mean you should assume I am one."

Issun began hopping up and down in frustration.

"And why on earth shouldn't I?!!!"

Sighing Sasuke slowly took a kunai out from his clothes and sliced his thumb, holding it out to the wolf.

"I think a wolf could smell the difference in demon blood and human blood."

Ammy carefully approached him, sniffing at his hand gingerly, and her muscles tensed and ready to attack. But then after smelling Sasuke's thumb for a good few minutes, she calmed down and began licking the shinobi's thumb in apology as she licked his small wound.

Sasuke sighed as he brought his hand back and wiped his thumb off on his purple waist garb, letting his chakra do the rest to close it.

"Hey kid, you never answered my question, who are you?"

Sasuke was bent over getting ready to gather the gear in his boat, but stopped to look at the little green person sitting on a wolf's head, then straightened back up. Sasuke had no idea how far his name had spread. He knew that due to his activities with Akatsuki and Orochimaru, he had gained a bad name for himself which stretched all across the elemental nations. He had no idea if it could have even spread up here into the mountains. So, wanting to try and start a new life, he decided it would be best that the name Uchiha never be mentioned around him again. So he lied while looking down at the two, not even showing a hint of it on his face as he told them,

"My name? It's Sasuke….Sasuke Sarutobi."

* * *

End of chapter, so rate and review everyone, I like to know how I did. This story of mine is a test for me to prove whether or not I can finish an actual story or not, because I plan on being a writer and well, I gotta do this. Also if you haven't guessed at Sasuke's new name, it's the name of a legendary ninja in Japan's history (although in the story he's just getting it from the dead Third Hokage). For me to reference this story very well, I need a copy of this ninja's story and legend, which is hard considering the fact that real ninjas were notorious for keeping themselves secret and letting legends and total fantasy things about them be told, like how they could walk through walls and on water, which added to people's fear of them. It made their jobs relatively a lot easier. But yes, if anyone could provide me with a URL of the site, doesn't matter what language it's in as I can get it translated perfectly no matter what. Or send me a copy of said story in an message it's be mucho appreciated. If you're a member of you can send me one.


	3. Welcome to Nippon!

Chapter 3

Ready….set…go!

* * *

The room was dark and dank, surrounded on all sides by stone walls. In the dark of the room sat three people, two men and one woman, one of the men holding his side, a slight growling coming from his lips. The other man's snake like eyes darted between the two waiting for the other man to talk, and the woman sat rather leisurely, relaxed from what she was normally doing. Finally the first man spoke, clearly the leader of the three.

"Argghh....that blasted god...she has easily destroyed what was left of Yomi's power. The darkness that I spent years gathering is gone."

A small silence filled the room until he spoke again, "I must now go with plan B."

The female who had had her eyes closed, opened them, making them gleam lightly in the darkness of the room. She looked at the one with snake eyes for a moment and then to the one speaking, her voice soft as silk as she spoke.

"And what would plan B consist of?"' she asked lightly tilting her head a bit to the side, the soft sound of her hair falling to the side the only thing letting them know she had moved in the first place.

"What is running through that head of yours I wonder, since it was you that got us this far," she said a small amount of pride in her voice that told the two she was smirking ever so slightly.

He growled lightly at the female but curbed his annoyance.

"I thought I had told you many times before...but it seems you're so taken with the Emperor that you have forgotten all about my plan."

She looked at him with annoyance in the darkness, her eyes shining with the very little light that was available. The other snake-eyed man laughed out a chuckle, which annoyed her more as she knew he had done it out of spite.

"It seems the silly girl is not good for much except being a distraction to his majesty."

She sucked in a bit of air making it sound like a hiss to control herself. She settled back down and glared at the male with snake eyes and then turned her eyes to the other male in the room.

"I'm only doing my part in your little plan…but there are times when I wonder what is running in that dark mind of yours."

She said as she closed her eyes and leaned back a bit more, resting on her shapely calf muscles to cushion herself.

"To gain rule over these miserable humans would be part of plan B from my understanding..but you know how I really don't pay any attention," she said ever too sweetly knowing it would get on both males nerves as she opened her eyes once more to glare at the snake-eyed man, showing her disdain for him at this moment.

The leader of the three growled out, "Enough!! I won't tolerate violence between us, not when we're so close. Yes, the ultimate goal of this plan is to rule over these humans, but the means to do so have changed. I must now begin draining the power from the sealed beings that have control over the five elements…then my own power will grow tremendously, and thus combat the goddess who now is here in Nippon."

The cat-eyed girl just sat and watched him as the snake-eyed man spoke.

"This is plan is better in that instead of the dark powers which most usually can feel, as if something is out of the norm, it will be the elemental powers which one can see and feel every day."

The leader nodded, confirming the snake-eyed man's statement.

"We will deal with the goddess when she comes, for now, continue the roles you have been placed in. That is all for this meeting… you may go now."

The snake eyed man nodded as he got up and left the room up the stairs that lead to it. After the other had left he looked over to her, shuffling to face her some, his kimono pulling tight against his legs as he turned to her.

"So you must be very interested in that man to forget all my plans like that...makes me wonder if you'll continue to do as commanded or fall for these meat-sacks that are humans," he said as he looked at her.

Her head turned swiftly to face him.

"I know how to follow orders..." She said with a small pout in her voice as she sat forward on her knees, bringing her closer to him, and ran a soft hand down the side of his face and purred lightly.

"You should know better than to think that I would ever care about any other man" She said with a slight seductiveness in her voice. She looked away then in a very soft movement she moved her hands down to loosen her kimono and slowly leaned in front of him.

"You would never think that would you?" She whispered so that only he could hear despite both of them being alone. He grinned as he raised his arms to pull her forward.

"Me? Think you to be disobedient and loving??" He grinned up to her. "Never."

XXXXXXXXX

"Sasuke Sarutobi huh? Sounds kinda like an old fart's name or something."

Sasuke wanted to palm his face after hearing that one, that or at least kill the bug. After the introductions had been made, and after Sasuke had gathered his things, he walked across the lily pad (which had surprised him greatly by its size) and was suddenly met by the whole village who had now gotten to the edge of the lake. After the villagers coming up and welcoming him, surprising him with their friendliness at a total stranger, he was invited to the home closest to the shoreline, specifically one that had a giant orange at the top. Ammy was very sad to discover that now only Mrs. Orange was living there, as Mr. Orange had died peacefully about a year ago in his sleep. Whining some she nuzzled up against Sasuke, surprising him a bit as he reached his hand down and patted her behind her ears, guessing that's what she wanted.

Finally the kind lady made some food for Sasuke, who suddenly realized he was very hungry, as he hadn't eaten in what seemed like a long while. Ammy meanwhile licked up some milk in a bowl laid out for her, along with another bowl with meat in it. Mrs. Orange would have gladly given more in respect for the now realized Mother Goddess, but being as she was now an old, single widow, providing for three was not high up on her list of needs so she gave what she could for them. Amaterasu was grateful regardless as she ate and drank all in respect to someone who gave all she could give. Sasuke just simply ate what was given him, letting out a small 'thanks' in appreciation. He was surprised to find that it was a soup with tomatoes in it. He stared at it for a minute.

"I forgot how much I loved tomatoes…"

This brought a smile to Mrs. Orange's old face, and Ammy glanced up for a minute before continuing to eat her meal. Issun, who was sitting on ground by the fire, only noticeable due to his green glow, looked up at the shinobi.

"You sure don't remember a lot huh?"

After a glance from Sasuke to the bug, he made the comment about his name, bringing us back to the present. Sasuke glared down at the bouncing green artist.

"At least I'm not an inch tall."

The black haired shinobi said with a very small sneer. Issun began hopping around madly all over the place. "You better watch it punk! I'll slice and dice ya if I have to!"

He said as he pulled out his sword, Dekomaru. But just as he was about land in front of the ninja, he noticed the sword he had on his back, his anger quickly lost.

"Hey! That's no ordinary sword is it! It looks like a sword a ninja uses!"

Sasuke's eyes widened but only for a second, then went back to the impassive look he had on his face.

"So what if it is? Maybe I took it from a ninja while he was asleep."

He said as he took another sip of his tea that had been brought along with his soup. Issun bounced up and down until he bounced onto Sasuke's knee.

"Yeah right! Everyone knows that ninjas are some of the sneakiest people in existence. It's near impossible to sneak up on one without being a ninja yourself! So that must mean that…!"

Sasuke had just finished his meal and stood up.

"I'm sorry for rudely leaving, but this is not a conversation I wish to have at any time in the present or future. Thank you for the meal, it was delicious. I haven't had the chance to eat tomatoes in a long time." He said as he bowed to Mrs. Orange and promptly left the house with his stuff, a bouncing Issun and confused Mrs. Orange and Amaterasu left in his wake.

"What the Heck is with that guy!!! Doesn't he know how rude he was in front of a goddess??! A fully powered one too as a matter of fact! Sorry for us to leave in a rush too Mrs. Orange, we gotta go teach that guy a lesson! Let's go boss!"

And with a hop he was on Amaterasu's head, thankfully she had finished her meal and got up and ran out of the house. Suddenly as they were leaving the house, a scream was heard. It seemed to come from the valley entrance that lead to the tiny village of Kamiki.

"Hey Ammy….I think I recognize that scream! We gotta hurry and find out what's up!" And with that the goddess of the sun, with strands of pure spiritual power rolling off of her ran at full speed towards the source of the scream, curiously noting that Sasuke was no longer in sight, although his scent seemed to be coming ahead.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The little girl was terrified beyond all reason, although to be fair most people would if they were wrapped up in the coils a large snake demon. The demon snake had a purple color to it, and small horns above its eyes, its head making it seem like a viper. Only most vipers weren't extremely long, thicker than a tree trunk, and had a cloth under its neck with the kanji for snake written on it. The little girl was crying tears, begging for anyone to come save her. Suddenly, out of the valley leading to Kamiki, was a white wolf with white strands. She had recently become a follower of the mother goddess, and could see her true form, which made her gasp. The snake whipped its head up and if he had been human, he would have visibly paled.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ammy ran out of the valley entrance only to see the large snake out near the path leading through Shinshu Fields. Wrapped up in its coils was a little girl crying and begging for help, wanting nothing more than to just go home to her mother. This made Amaterasu furious for a couple of things. Firstly was that anything that threatened her followers and people in general ticked her off, and it ticked her off even more when it was helpless little girls. And secondly what ticked her off was that a demon had somehow managed to come up this close to Kamiki without her knowing, which made her mad at herself for not even being able to sense it at full power.

She was about to vent her frustration by using her full power to slice it's neck off at once, when suddenly the snake pulled a daring move, moving his head straight behind the little girl, his fangs extended and ready to bite into her shoulders. Now Ammy knew that she could stop time with her brush and end this thing's life. But there would be no guarantee if once its head was sliced that it's fangs wouldn't pierce her shoulders and poison her to death. If it had been a normal snake's venom, she was confident that her blossom ability might have been used to heal it quickly, but this was a demon snake, thus having demon venom…she just wasn't sure enough to know it yet, she'd have to test it. So she was left trying to figure out what to do, when a bit of movement caught her eye above on the rocks above the valley.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke had watched the scene unfold out below. Being a ninja, he wasn't sure what on earth it was that was strangling that girl. He could sense its evil but it wasn't like any demon he had felt yet. It felt almost weak, like one of his old snake summons. Personally however, he didn't care what happened, he was trying to start a new life in this place and wanted to move on soon as possible. Saving little girls didn't really seem his style anyway. He turned to go, one hand on his backpack strap, the other resting by his side, his elbow resting between his sword and back. Then the little girl screamed and pleaded again when the snake moved its head behind her. Sasuke closed his eyes, wanting to ignore it but found he couldn't, and deep, deep down…he felt this small voice speaking to him. He couldn't hear it physically but could feel it in his heart.

It said, "Go…Help."

He wanted to ignore it, just go on with his business and his own life. So when he dropped his bad onto the ground he sighed.

"So much for that plan." And with that he drew his sword.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Just as the snake was about to have a tasty meal with the goddess forced to watch helplessly, a chirping began to fill the air. Issun looked around bewildered as it grew louder and in number very quickly.

"What the heck is that chirping all about?!"

Suddenly as he moved his head back to look at the snake, his eyes nearly bugged out of his tiny head. Sasuke had suddenly appeared on the coils on top of the snake, his sword drawn, and was glowing with electricity, the sound of a thousand birds chirping filling the air. The snake raised its head in surprise and in preparation to strike back at the sudden intruder. Sasuke's eyes were red with the sharingan, wanting to get a look at how these demons moved. He looked down at the little girl…then for the first time in a while, smiled just a little.

"Close your eyes sweetheart."

The little girl said nothing else as she closed her eyes tight. Then the snake struck forward, and Sasuke was forced to move.

"For a demon you're not that smart."

And with a lighting fast strike it's head came flying off as blood sprayed out onto the grass. Sasuke quickly bent down and scooped her up out of the Snake's lifeless coils and jumped back towards Amaterasu, Setting the little girl down. Kneeling in front of her his sharingan went off and he put his sword back in its sheath. Then he put his hands on her shoulders and spoke.

"You can open your eyes now it's over."

Amaterasu watched as the little girl opened her eyes and then hugged Sasuke in a tearful thank you.

"I-I-I-I thought I was going to die!! That I would never get to see my mommy again! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you for saving me!!"

She said as she even gave him a kiss on the cheek, to which the Uchiha responded with a rare blush and a nod.

"Stay out of trouble from now on ok? Don't want to have to save you again."

He said as Amaterasu approached and licked her cheek fondly, with a cute whine. Sasuke stood up, leaping up onto the cliff to get his pack and leapt back down. He looked down at the little girl one more time. Issun however asked the question he had on his mind first,

"Hey kid, I think I've seen you around here before, what's your name?"

Blushing shyly as most children did, she answered. "A-Ame….Ame-no-Uzume, Mrs. Wolf Goddess ma'am."

Issun began hopping madly.

"Talk to the guy on her head who's talking to ya, not to her!!"

"Ah! Sorry, sorry!"

Issun sighed, "Well it's not like I can berate a kid in front of Ammy here with her being the more powerful Mother Goddess and all. What're you doing here anyway kid? Did you see how that snake came here to Shinshu? And more importantly, where is your mother?!"

Sasuke looked down at the Poncle on the wolf's head.

"Jeez you just don't stop asking people their life stories do you? Did it ever occur to you that she might not _want_ to tell you? You're almost worse than a certain blonde guy I used to remember."

Issun lit up with rage. "HEY!!! Are you calling me intrusive?! I'm not forcing her to answer ya know, just asking her some questions that affect the safety and peace of Nippon!"

Ammy breathed a puff of breath in a sigh. Sasuke stared down at the green bug.

"You don't look the kind to care about the world…you sorta look like the kind who goes along for the ride," he said with another small sneer.

Issun drew his sword. "Ok, that's it!!!! You're done for punk!"

He was getting ready to leap when suddenly Ame ran behind Sasuke's legs.

"U-ummm..."

She couldn't mutter a word but pointed to the body of the snake, whose neck was slowly rising off the ground. This silenced Issun and Sasuke right away. Then they leapt back, Sasuke holding Ame tight, as the neck sprouted out two heads from its neck, each snake's head looking as poisonous as before.

"I thought it was too easy to kill for a demon." Sasuke muttered as his Sharingan activated. Then suddenly his eyes went open a little wider.

Up until now all Sasuke had seen walking along beside him was a white wolf with a bouncing green bug on her head. But now she was actually in his view when he activated his Sharingan, and what he saw amazed him. She was now coated with red markings all over her body, she had a blazing, fiery disk floating above her back, bright as a solar flare and as colorful as a rainbow. She also seemed to appear more…divine, for lack of a better word. She was practically glowing as strands of white substance floated off of her. If his Sharingan hadn't been what caused him to see it, he'd have swore he was hallucinating. But at the moment his Sharingan caught the first movement of the snake happening, a lightning fast strike at the two warriors. Sasuke picked up Ame and easily leapt out of the way.

"I need you to close your eyes again dear."

She did so as he suddenly disappeared in a blur and deposited the girl out of harm's way on the cliff top, then in another blur appeared right behind the serpent's head's. He was about to extend his hand forward in a huge Chidori blade, but then his eyes caught a movement from the white wolf. He then saw in a fleeting vision that the snake simply fell to pieces. He suddenly shun-shined right behind the wolf and right as he did so, he saw black lines simply materialize out of mid-air and slice the snake to pieces in a whirlwind of cuts.

"What on earth??"

"Hahaha! Excellent boss! That Power Strike technique of yours is amazingly powerful now!"

Sasuke just stared at the two, his mouth slightly agape. He was certain that with his Sharingan on, this wasn't some kind of illusion…but it just didn't seem possible that this was the white wolf's true form. He let his Sharingan deactivate, and sure enough, the shining, brilliantly glowing wolf turned back to normal before his eyes.

"What on earth are you?!" he said a little bewildered.

The wolfess turned to him, tilting her head some and whining a bit. Issun hopped up and down in excitement.

"What about you huh?! What was with those moves back there?!"

They both stood there in silence for a few moments, just staring each other down. Finally Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed as he held a hand to his temples over his eyes.

"You told me before that she's a goddess…I don't believe that, but I don't believe you to be lying either, your much too excitable to lie."

"HEY! Why I oughta…"

"Let me finish," Sasuke interrupted quickly, "in order to find out for myself…I will allow you to know me somewhat."

That confused Issun and Ammy both, but eagerly looked at him for an answer about himself.

"You were right before Issun…I am a ninja, a very powerful one at that."

"HA!! I knew it!!!! I knew you had to be a ninja with a sword like that! See boss, a ninja's sword is much straighter than a samurai's because it moves quicker."

Ammy yipped in acknowledgement, but then Sasuke held a hand up.

"That's all I'll let you know about me for now. Now apparently you two are adventurers of a sort…well I'm not. I came here to get away from that sort of life. So now that I've helped you this once, I'm leaving."

Ammy looked a sad right away, her ears pinning back against her head quickly. The little girl had by now opened her eyes at the quiet conversation, the carcass of the demon creature having disappeared with Amaterasu's exorcism of it. She quietly came and tugged on the sleeve of his shirt and looked up at him.

"B-before you go….do you think...do you think you could take me home?"

Sasuke looked down at Ame, and for the umpteenth time that day he sighed. He didn't want to start his new life with any trouble, plus he really had nothing better to do except wander aimlessly till he found something, so he figured he didn't have anything to lose. He knelt and looked the little girl in the eyes with his dark, onyx irises, earning a blush from the ten-year-old.

"Where do you live? Can you show me to your home?"

She nodded shyly and pointed up to the house overlooking the fields on a small hilltop; he had noticed it earlier but hadn't bothered looking at it closely. Issun hopped straight from the goddess's head straight onto Sasuke's shoulder.

"Well mister Sarutobi Sasuke…what say we at least help you take Ame-chan here back to her grandfather's house? Then we'll let you go on your way huh?"

Sasuke turned his head to look at the small creature. At this close he could actually see he was a small person, not just a bug which astonished him to a small degree…still he resisted the temptation to smack the little bouncing fiend off his shoulder.

"Fine, I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

Ame giggled in happiness as she began run forward through the field. Issun had leaped back onto Ammy's head and she happily ran forward towards the little girl, playing with her a bit, barking happily with a wolfish smile on her face. Sasuke had started forward, but suddenly turned his head. He had only saw it out of the corner of his eye and only for a split second, but he thought he had seen something move up on the cliff area among the trees. After realizing that their ninja associate wasn't following, Issun yelled loudly, waking him from his observation.

"Hey punk! By the way, I forgot to tell ya," Sasuke then turned to face the wolf, girl, and Poncle. He then got his first good look at the surrounding fields.

"Welcome to Nippon!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

In the tree line, a shadowed man watched the four walk up towards, hidden perfectly by the tree he stood behind, watching intently at the young man who only minutes ago he had watched kill a two-headed snake demon. After making sure he wasn't observed, he moved back quickly over the cliff towards the side leading away from Hana Valley and out into other lands, gone to inform his leaders of what he had seen.

* * *

Wow this took a while to get out, well at long last I got my mojo back after...me getting sick, my uncle dying, trying to get a job…yikes it's been nuts for me, so gomen for the late update. I'll try harder with the next chapter I promise. Rate and Review people, it lets me know if chu like it or not :3 oh and i must give some credit to my friend who i will only name Jade-chan :] she doesn't have an account on here but she did help me write a bit of the story at the beginning, so read and try and figure out where she helped.


	4. Training with Onigiri sensei

Chapter 4

* * *

The four travelers walked up the hilly path, Amaterasu happily playing with the little girl they had saved, who was giggling as she started a game of tag with the Mother Goddess, who eagerly let her give chase, her short brown hair and cute, short white kimono with golden flowers on it blowing behind her as she ran. Trailing along behind was our favorite ninja who was watching them all…not with any look of hatred, but simply of mild annoyance. He disliked anyone looking and acting childish, of course unknown to him that was simply because his childhood had been wrought with discipline, order, and blind pride. But he did smirk just a little bit when Ame turned and gave him a big smile as she had caught Amaterasu's tail. As they neared the house, he noticed the things that seemed to surround the building.

"Hey…" he stopped as he looked around.

"This is all training equipment…for fighting."

"Well of course! I mean the man whose building we're going towards is a dojo master…although as old as he is I'm surprised he ain't retired or dead yet." Issun shouted with an exasperated sigh.

Sasuke's eyebrows went up just a little bit at the thought of getting some training in as this was a dojo. Suddenly the door opened wide, and there was a pretty young woman standing in the door with her eyes wide. She had medium length, brown hair and a white furisode on. Ame turned her head and smiled really big.

"Mommy!"

She ran to her mother who had her hands outstretched and then hugged her daughter tightly as she jumped into her arms, crying and sobbing that her little girl was ok. The man that he assumed was the father, joined with them at the door in the group hug, he had on an orange akido outfit, and from the looks of it, he had been training a bit. Sasuke stopped for a moment and looked on. The man was crying too as he embraced his little girl. Sasuke was silent as he watched the scene…how often had he wished for a mother's embrace, a father's prideful slap on the back for a job well done? As he looked on he found himself again wishing for such things. But now as a young adult, after feeling nothing but rage for so long, he found himself feeling different things than he had before, of how not only he wanted a parent's comfort…but now as he saw how happy that little girl was, he wondered when he himself would be the one giving the comforting touch to his child…or even to his wife.

"HEY! Where the heck is the old man? I've seen you two around here before, but who are you?"

He was awoken from his stupor when Issun had begun shouting, which caused him to get irked. He was about to tell the bug off when suddenly an old man came shuffling out of the door. Sasuke watched as the old man came up to the white wolf and squinted his eyes.

"What? You don't recognize us old timer? Heh, well I can understand that, what with me aging into handsomeness quite well…"

The old man squinted harder, then smiled a crinkled old smile as he petted Amaterasu.

"Well now if it isn't Snowy! I haven't seen you in a long time pooch! Heh or should I call you Mother Amaterasu now?"

Issun began bouncing around as he watched the interaction.

"Well at least you know now, guess that means my paintings traveled thanks to Ida's delivery."

"Quite right you are little bouncing bug, why just the other day I was…"

"I'M NOT A BUG DARN IT! I AM A WANDERING ARTIST AND CELESTIAL ENVOY, NOT A BUG, AN ARTIST!"

Sasuke suddenly came up behind him and then quite unceremoniously brought his hand down on top of Issun with a smack, and he gently went rolling off unconsciously, then Sasuke promptly bowed.

"Forgive him sir for his rude mouth, he's just egotistical." Sasuke's eyes met the old man's.

Right then and there his ninja instincts went off…it had seemed the man's had too, as they were no longer squinted but a bit wider open, not so much like an old man's but more like something keen and trained to see things that others didn't. Sasuke could tell right away he was a fighter. The old man could sense something in him too. It was said that two warriors who are truly great do not even need to exchange blows to see what is going on.

"My my…you seem quite the strapping young ninja."

Sasuke's eyes went a bit wider as he looked down at the man who was standing shortly at the moment.

"And you seem quite old to be a dojo master."

"Hah, it seems you saw through my age to the truth, how perceptive of you."

"I was trained from a young age to see what things really are and not how they appear. My eyes are very good at discerning truth from lies."

The staring went on for a minute more. Until finally Issun who had woken back up during the staring contest had begun to sweat.

"Ummmmm yeah…Sasuke this is Onigiri-sensei, ummm sensei this is Sarutobi Sasuke."

Sasuke backed up but never took his eyes off the old man.

"An honor to meet you young ninja, welcome to my dojo, and I especially wish to thank you and the Mother goddess for rescuing my precious granddaughter."

Issun then began bugging out. "GRANDDAUGHTER! This little girl is your granddaughter?"

"Of course, don't you see the family resemblance?"

Issun and Amaterasu tilted their heads some looking at the little girl who smiled and waved back at the two cutely.

"Err not really old man…anyway, we were glad to help you out and all, you better be glad that this ninja brat showed up when he did, a second sooner and the snake demon that had your kid there would have eaten her."

This promptly caused a gasp from the two parents there and a fainting from the mother of the two, which made the father have to catch her. Onigiri-sensei looked back for a second before turning back to the black haired shinobi.

"Thank you deeply for saving my precious little grandchild, you and Amaterasu both. Is there any way I could repay your kindness at all?"

Issun was about to be the cool hero and politely turn down the offer because looking into the long and thick of it all, they didn't really need anything they couldn't get in the village, but just before he could Sasuke spoke up.

"Well, I don't know about these two...I really just met them both, but I'd like the chance to possibly find a place to stay and eat tonight before I set out, and I'd also like to the chance to train with you."

At those words, the old man's eyes seemed to glint a bit, an old smile forming on his face.

"Well if it's training you want, the payment is very fair, you saved my granddaughter and thus I shall train you like never before…it's been a long time since I last trained with a real warrior."

Issun interjected, "AND WHAT THE HECK ARE WE? CHOPPED LIVER?" but was quickly ignored as Onigiri-sensei continued on to Sasuke.  
"And afterwards I'd love to have you for dinner to hear of your travels."

Sasuke seemed to tense up at that, which didn't go unnoticed by the old dojo master, but Sasuke remained smooth. "Perhaps…shall we then?"

"Hold on just a second sonny, I need to psyche myself up…are you ready for the challenge that lies ahead?"

"Challenge? You're not seriously going to train me yourself are you?"

"Well my son certainly isn't going to! Oooooohhh, ahhhhhhh…!"

Suddenly Sasuke had to blink and rub his eyes, for a second he had thought he had seen a man's head spin around on its neck. Regardless of what he had thought he had seen, it was clear that the old man before him was now very different. He was standing upright instead of being hunched over. His brows were now large and furrowed down in seriousness.

"You think you have what it takes to walk the path of a true warrior? Then let's step inside."

It was strange, but he felt a strange sense of familiarity about this old man. It was like he was back in the Leaf Village and that Might Guy was going off on something foolish.

"Let's, old man…" Sasuke said with eerie eagerness. Amaterasu who had been standing by watching the meeting transpire looked up at Issun a little worriedly, but nevertheless followed the two warriors inside to the inner dojo.

It took only a moment for the old man to swing his cane around in his hand, revealing it to be a bamboo training sword.

"Well! Let's see whatcha got ninja boy!"

Issun cried out as he and Amaterasu watched from the sidelines of the bamboo covered dojo. The two stared each other down, waiting to see who would make the first move. Sasuke stood still as he speedily made it first. He figured the faster he got this done, the less amount of damage this old man took and the less likely he would hurt him.

"Chidori Current!" he cried as lightning sparked and rippled around his body and traveled through the floor to his opponent, hoping to stun him down.

The old sensei suddenly threw his bamboo sword point down, and with a leap was balancing on the tip as the lightning rippled beneath him harmlessly. The black haired youth was surprised to say the least.

"Not bad old man. You're pretty agile in your age."

"Heh I'd be better if I didn't have to avoid your jutsu, this is a spar not a death match, or can't you keep up with the rules young one?" Sasuke got a little irked by his tone, but agreed as the lighting ebbed away.

On the sidelines Amaterasu whined disapprovingly to the black haired ninja warrior. Sasuke sighed in annoyance

"Feh, fine, not that it would help your chances anyway," he said as he lunged forward and high speed, smacking the bamboo sword from underneath Onigiri, hoping to disarm him and knock him off balance.

But again the shinobi was surprised when the surprisingly agile old man back flipped off of his staff and did a flipping kick right on Sasuke's back causing the boy to grunt as he swirled around right into another strike towards the old man's side. The old sensei launched off of Sasuke's back and dodged yet another strike.

"Your very fast sonny, I'm not even sure how long I could keep up with you if you were serious. But as this is training, perhaps you could try my workout regimen?" Sasuke's eyes brow quirked a little as he looked at him. "Hmmm I suppose I can."

XXXXXXXXXX

Hours later after no break training and sparring, Sasuke was actually getting tired, a feeling he hadn't felt in ages. Amaterasu was sitting with her head comfortably in Ame's lap, her hands gently stroking across her ears and head as she napped. Ame's parents came in every once in a while but then left to go do house chore duties. Issun was actually wide eyed, his eyes glued to the two, very impressed with Sasuke's fluid movements.

"Dang this kid can fight, and I hardly ever admit that to anyone."

He spoke to himself from in front of Ammy's still paw. Finally Onigiri-sensei who was breathing a little hard held a hand up.

"Dear me, I haven't trained anyone like that since that samurai Musashi came through years ago. You're something else lad."

Sasuke actually had sweat pouring down his face as he stood up and wiped it clean, having a while ago discarded his white shirt that mostly covered his arms in favor of going shirtless from the heat of just doing what basically amounted to taijutsu training for him. But lord it felt good, he hadn't felt that way since the leaf village days.

"Heh, thanks, you're not a bad teacher old man."

"Heh well the lesson is over for now sonny but remember, always keep training no matter what, for it's what keeps you sharp and on your toes, I pray you never forget that."

The black haired youth wiped the sweat off of himself and then performed a rare move for him to do…he bowed to him in respect. "I won't forget it, thank you sensei." The old teacher smiled an old weary smile at the gesture and bowed back. It was a touching moment for two warriors, young and old...which unfortunately wouldn't last.

Suddenly Sasuke's eyes went wide as looked up and around, quickly drawing his grass-cutter blade.

"Hey, you sense them old timer?"

"I do," the old man responded in kind as he drew his bamboo sword up.

Amaterasu's ears went up as she growled lowly, standing in front of Ame, who wasn't aware of what was going on but began to feel scared.

"M-Mommy? Daddy, I think something's wrong with…!"

Her voice of warning to her mother and father went unheard as suddenly the windows and roof flaps were broken in, and swift movements followed in through them as black clad men surrounded the two warriors. Sasuke noted immediately they were all ninja, 20 to be total. It wasn't the black masks and clothing that only showed their hands full of weapons and eyes that had surprised him, it was the fact that so many had gotten so close without him detecting them sooner. Truly that training session had been tough. Issun was bouncing around on Amaterasu's head, his sword drawn and ready for a fight.

"Holy crap! This is seriously not good! Boss, we gotta help them!"

Amaterasu was about to oblige with a flick of her tail when suddenly a new voice rang out.

"I would not do anything violent-oriented at this time. For many things to you are suddenly at stake."

The crowd of ninja parted ways for another stranger in the midst of chaos. A large man in ninja clothing not unlike the kind Sasuke saw on a daily basis back in his own homeland. He had furs of wolves and foxes and other animals wrapped around his large frame as a cloak, and had his black hair tied up in a typical knot, showing his higher status. Over his gaut face was an eyepatch covering his left eye, three scars going across underneath the patch. Overall, despite those few traits he saw, Sasuke saw that he did not look friendly and any less dangerous by any means despite his more advanced agedness.

"The young ninja comes with us, or you risk the death of a family."

Across the room the white wolf goddess's eyes widened as she turned around to realize Ame was no longer behind her, then widened further when she spotted them across the dojo floor along with her mother and father, all with ninja crouched down low behind them with kunai to their necks, effectively using them as human shields should anyone attempt to save them. Sasuke looked around at the situation. He could no t sense any chakra, and could easily dispatch them with no trouble. But it was usually the easiest looking adversary that could prove the trickiest unless of course you had the power to deal with them. At least that was what Orochimaru had taught him ages ago, and he never really liked that stupid man's ideals anyway. He slowly looked around one more time before sheathing his sword.

"Fine, but the dog comes with me."

Amaterasu growled as she watched the eye-patched ninja nod his head slowly then as he gave another more curt nod to his men behind the small family. Issun was livid and would have said something had the situation not been so bad and siimply stayed silent on top of Amaterasu's head. Sasuke turned to look at Onigiri-sensei, staring at him for a moment before bowing low to him. The old man smiled a little under his wrinkles at the young warrior showing him respect that the young man did not seem to have shown in a long time. He then raised his head and turned it to the small family and the little girl whose life he had saved, tears welling in her eyes. Then Sasuke turned and walked to the door with a bunch of ninja watching his movements. Just as Amaterasu came along behind him to exit the building the black haired shinobi spoke up.

"Don't cry ok, I'll be back, got to take care of something I guess."

And with that he left without another word or gesture, Ammy turning to see Ame's smile form as she nodded in acceptance. The ninjas left as fast as they came, leaving the small dojo family to wonder what would become of the black, spiky haired ninja that had touched them so.

* * *

It seems I forgot to describe Ame to you folks in chapter 3, so forgive me for that, I made up for it in this one. And once again, sorry this takes so long to get out, my life is pretty confusing right now and trying to write fanfiction is way on the backburner, which upsets me because I know I have fans out there who enjoy this style of story. Forgive me and know that I'm never going to quit on this, I'll keep moving forward even if it is at a snail's pace and that snail has someone pushing him backwards the whole time.


	5. Author's Note

Hey guys! I know you've been eagerly awaiting the newest chapter of Sasuke Sarutobi, and trust me I wish I could finish it…but lately since I've started my creative writing class in college, I feel that this story needs to be redone properly so it doesn't always end on cliffhangers and just to generally make this story better….also I started this story before Okamiden was released and around the time Sasuke killed Danzo…to make this story more fuller and full of the story you guys deserve I'm going to be rewriting the first 4 chapters so that that cute pup Chibiterasu makes an appearance as well, because as it stands, it ain't even happening with my original story line! However the premise will basically be the same but I just gotta re-tweak it. So bear with me, this will take a while, but I never ever give up on something once I start it but I do have a busy life but thankfully this class I'm taking is giving me a lot of opportunity to do what I love, write stories…I got original all-my-own stories that are in the works =] I will try and share those with you all later. So until the first rewrite…Excelsior!


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